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„You okay, man?“
Big Red’s elbow against his arm brought Ricky back to himself. He had zoned out, and absolutely not been thinking about a certain someone. Why would he? It wasn’t like anything had happened other than them singing together. Literally everyone in this room had sung together at some point, and that didn’t mean they all had feelings for each other.
“Mhm? Yeah sure. Just tired.”
And that wasn’t even a lie. After getting home last night, Ricky had spent half the night lying awake, trying to convince himself that EJ and him were just friends, which was a good thing, because they definitely hadn’t been friends before.
Up front, Miss Jenn was talking about the importance of an ensemble that got along and stuck together, and how that was the backbone of the entire production. Or at least she had been five minutes ago, before Ricky had zoned out.
“You sure? ‘Cause if there’s something you wanna talk about…”
“Dude, I’m good.”
Honestly, Ricky wasn’t even sure where he would start, and part of him feared that, if he did start somewhere, he wouldn’t be able to stop.
“Alright, because I kinda wanna talk to you about something…”
The bell interrupted their conversation, and Miss Jenn told them to go over their scenes as homework, before grabbing her bag to leave. Everyone had already moved, when Ashlyn stepped up, waving to get people’s attention.
“I think we’re already a great ensemble, but we should take the opportunity to strengthen our friendship!” She announced with a smile. “My parents are away for the weekend, so I’m throwing a cast party for everyone. Girls can sleep over, so bring your pjs!”
Everyone seemed to be instantly excited, with Carols offering to come by and do some decorations, while Gina promised to make a weekend worth of cupcakes.
Ricky’s eyes briefly caught EJ’s across the room, and his heart missed a beat.
Damn it.
Quickly tearing his eyes away, Ricky realized that Big Red was talking to him again.
“So, I’ll pick you up at 7 and then we can talk on the way, right? ‘Cause I just promised Ashlyn to make some tomato salsa.”
“You what?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Big Red made sure that Ashlyn was otherwise occupied, before he leaned in a little closer. “She was looking for someone to do it, and I kinda wanted to impress her.”
His best friend was actually blushing, and Ricky couldn’t help but smile at that. He hadn’t noticed anything going on between Ashlyn and Big Red, but then again saying he’d been otherwise occupied would have probably been an understatement.
“Alright, let’s google a recipe.”
-
They ended up buying all the ingredients and making the salsa together. It was a good way for Ricky to take his mind off things, or a certain someone, and he was kinda proud of them for actually making the whole thing taste pretty decent.
They drove by his house then, so he could drop off his bag and have a quick shower, before heading to Ashlyn’s place. Big Red had, as Ricky had assumed, a crush on their mutual friend. He wasn’t blaming him, really. Ashlyn was sweet and funny, and one of those people that saw good in anyone. She got along with everyone, and always found something positive in a situation, no matter how awful it seemed.
“So, you think I should make a move?” Big Red asked, causing Ricky to turn his attention away from the passing houses, and towards his best friend.
“Do you know if she likes you too?” That whole meeting someone and wondering if they were attracted to you was sort of new to Ricky. Nini and him had known each other for as long as they could remember, so getting together with her had seemed almost natural.
“I don’t know, man. I mean…I think I’m getting some positive vibes from her.”
Ricky briefly wondered if singing love songs, and leaning in so close your lips could touch, classified as positive vibes, but then quickly pushed that thought as far into the back of his mind as possible.
“I mean…if you think that, then I’d say: Go for it. She doesn’t seem like someone who’d be giving out signals if she wasn’t into you.” Though really, Ricky shouldn’t be giving out any sort of relationship advice. Big Red, however, seemed to be glad for any advice he received.
“Alright, I will,” he grinned as they pulled into Ashlyn’s street. “Thanks man.”
-
The place had been decorated expertly, and there was a bunch of food already in the kitchen. Carlos had brought along some self-made board game, which everyone was super excited about.
EJ and Ricky ended up on opposite teams, which wasn’t all that bad, because it meant Ricky could look at the other boy without seeming suspicious. In fact, not looking at him would have been suspicious in this case.
Still, he couldn’t quite figure out what was actually going on with him. A few days ago, he wouldn’t have wanted to be in the same room with EJ, but now he almost wished the other boy would be sitting next to him, just so their knees could touch again, like they had when they had sat at the piano.
A shiver ran down Ricky’s spine at that thought, and he almost missed Gina scoring the final point for their team. Everyone scattered around the living room after that, eating food, talking and laughing. Big Red seemed to have gathered all his courage and followed Ashlyn into the kitchen, while Gina and Carlos were trying out some new dance moves.
Ricky had been too absorbed into watching his two friends, to notice EJ approaching him.
“Hey.”
The other boy’s voice startled him, yet again, and he almost spilled the drink in his hand.
“Uh. Hey.”
That was their entire interaction for a full minute, until Ricky had calmed his stumbling heart enough to actually speak.
“So…did you get home alright yesterday?” He managed, glancing over the other boy. That was a normal question, right? Nothing wrong about asking a classmate if he got home alright after rehearsal.
“Yeah, all good. You?” EJ replied, the hint of a smile on his face, which was enough to make Ricky’s stomach flutter ever so slightly.
Seriously? What’s wrong with you? He thought, barely managing to not shake his head at himself. He’d sung countless duets with Nini ever since their breakup, and not once had he felt the way he felt right now with EJ. Maybe he’d have to just talk to EJ about how he’d felt? Have the other boy tell him that he was being ridiculous, and maybe then those strange feelings would go away.
“So, I wanted to…” He began, their eyes meeting again, and for a moment all the courage he had gathered vanished into thin air. Maybe things would be easier if he just sang his feelings?
Fortunately, or not, Kourtney had grabbed one of the empty pepsi bottles, and held it up into the air. “Alright, we’re playing spin the bottle!”
That was about the last thing Ricky wanted to do right now, maybe apart from 7 minutes in heaven, because the thought of possibly being locked in a closet with EJ made it a little hard to breathe.
Everyone had gathered around the bottle on the floor already though, and Ricky thought that he was way too sober to be doing any of this. Not that he was much a drinker anyway, but still. Everyone else seemed to be pretty alright with this though, Big Red actually seemed excited, and Ricky figured he was hoping to get a kiss from Ashlyn, which he couldn’t blame him for.
The bottle was spun by Kourtney first, and eventually landed on Nini. There was a quick peck on the lips, before Nini continued. Neither of the girls seemed to be phased by this at all, which wasn’t surprising. They were best friends after all, they hand probably played this game before.
Nini’s bottle eventually ended on him, and for a moment the air seemed tense, because everyone obviously knew about their history, but Ricky wasn’t worried about that as much as he was worried about something else entirely. So, to distract himself from those thoughts he leaned in, pressing a kiss to Nini’s lips. It felt…familiar, because he had done it a hundred times before, but it didn’t spark the same butterflies it had before summer break.
Nini was smiling as she pulled back though, probably as relieved as everyone else was that this hadn’t turned out to be awkward.
“Alright, your turn. Spin,” She nodded, and so Ricky did. He would have absolutely kissed everyone in that circle, really. Everyone except for EJ. The thought of kissing the other boy alone made his stomach flutter again, and he wasn’t exactly sure how he was supposed to explain that, and what he assumed would be his reddened cheeks, to anyone in this circle.
Ricky also didn’t want their first kiss to be like that.
Not…that he was planning on kissing EJ more than once. Or had planned on kissing him at all. His life, however, seemed to be doing anything but what he had planned for himself these days though.
Everyone had fallen silent again, and when Ricky glanced up from the bottle it was, in fact, pointing at EJ.
His heart missed a beat, and suddenly it was getting a little hard to breathe again. Their eyes met, and EJ was looking back at him with an expression that was all too familiar to Ricky. He’d seen it before, and it made his stomach swoop ever so slightly.
You think I won’t do it?
It was a challenge, and Ricky had never been one to back down from one. He’d learned to dance, and signed up for a musical just to try and win his ex-girlfriend back, if that wasn’t a challenge then he didn’t know.
This, however, was an entirely different kind of challenge. Part of him didn’t want to turn it down, but he also wasn’t exactly sure how he’d react if their lips actually touched.
EJ had already moved though, crawling across the center of their circle, and suddenly Ricky’s heart was beating hard against his ribcage again.
This is actually happening, he thought, but before he could even begin to actually panic, the sound of a phone ringing broke the silence that had fallen over the room. EJ pulled back ever so slightly, and Gina, who held up her phone, shot them an apologetic look.
“Sorry guys, that’s my Mom.” She took the call, and just a moment later her smile faltered. “What? Mom…no…”
Getting up to move away from the others, Gina seemed to be anything but happy, and everyone else was trying not to listen in on the conversation, but it was obvious that they were worried.
EJ had sat back on his knees, his eyes catching Ricky’s once more.
They had almost kissed. Again.
“You okay?” Big Red’s voice pulled him from his thoughts as he appeared in his sight, blocking out EJ and his captivating eyes, which was probably for the better.
“Uh? Yes.” Ricky quickly replied, running a hand through his hair. Some of the girls had gone to check on Gina, who had disappeared into the kitchen, while Carlos was packing up his board game.
“Do you think Gina’s alright? She looked pretty down.”
“I don’t know…she told me she and her Mom had to move a lot because of her Mom’s job.” Losing Gina now would have been pretty awful, she was an amazing singer and dancer, and she seemed to have finally found her place with them. It was easy to talk to her, too, even about things like his mother leaving and having a new boyfriend, and if this whole thing with EJ was something he’d talk to anyone about, then it would have probably been Gina.
“Man, that would suck. Her moving away, I mean.” Big Red replied, and Ricky could only agree. “I mean I’m kinda glad for the phone call interrupting yours and EJ’s stare down, because that would have been awkward,” He laughed, shaking his head. “But I was kind of hoping to score a kiss with Ashlyn, you know?”
Was Ricky glad for the interruption? He wasn’t so sure. Part of him didn’t want this to be the only time they kissed, surrounded by their friends, who probably still thought they couldn’t get along, but then again this might have been his only chance to actually kiss EJ, without having to explain it to himself, or anyone else.
“Yeah…why don’t you offer to help her clean up? Might not result in a kiss, but at least she’ll think you’re sweet.”
“That’s a great idea! But…how are you getting home?”
Ricky hadn’t actually thought about that, but he probably needed some time to clear his head, and maybe a walk would help with that.
“I’ll be fine. Carlos can surely give me a ride.” He didn’t want to worry his best friend, especially not seeing how excited he seemed to be about helping Ashlyn and spending some more time with her.
-
Whatever was going on with Gina, she didn’t want to talk about it. The call had killed the mood though, and everyone eventually decided to head home. Ricky even noticed that the sleepover seemed to be cancelled, which was a shame for the girls, but good for Big Red.
He waited until most of the girls had gone, and then slipped outside after saying goodbye to Ashlyn and his best friend.
The air outside was crisp and cool, but not cool enough to make him shiver just yet. It was actually quite nice to take a walk for a change, it also meant he didn’t have to get home so fast.
Ricky loved his Dad, he really did, but it was hard with just the two of them sometimes. Especially since he knew his Dad was trying his hardest to not let Ricky see how much he was still hurting.
Alright. Maybe taking a walk to clear his head was only resulting in his brain telling him about all the things that weren’t working out in his life.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Ricky kicked a pebble out of his way as he continued walking. Why hadn’t he taken his skateboard?
“Hey, want a ride?”
The car, which had pulled up next to him, stopped, and Ricky could see EJ’s face appearing in the window. When their eyes met, Ricky’s heart missed another beat.
Shit.
Okay, so maybe he liked EJ.
The problem was: That wasn’t how auditioning for a musical and getting the lead to win back your ex-girlfriend, was supposed to go at all.